Qualla: Battle of Slater's Knoll https://qualla.com/battle-of-slater-s-knoll en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Battle of Slater's Knoll https://qualla.com/battle-of-slater-s-knoll Battle of Slater's Knoll: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-slater-s-knoll/ The knoll got its name from a private. On 6 March 1945, Japanese shelling of a small rise near the Puriata River in southern Bougainville wounded an Australian soldier named Carl Slater, who held his post until he could be relieved. He was the only casualty on that rise for some time, and the Australian 25th Infantry Battalion attached his name to the hill. Four weeks later, 129 of his fellow soldiers - a single company in a set of trenches and weapons pits on that same knoll - would face roughly 1,100 Japanese infantry charging through the dark in waves. What happened next is why the name Slater's Knoll is still carried as a battle honor by the 25th Infantry Battalion.

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/6/battle-of-slater-s-knoll-wp/rqy6-battle-of-slaters-knoll-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Slater's Knoll: The Forgotten Campaign https://qualla.com/battle-of-slater-s-knoll/ By 1945, the Bougainville campaign was what military historians sometimes call an unnecessary war - the main Allied thrust had moved far to the north, toward the Philippines and Okinawa, and the Japanese garrison on Bougainville could have been left to wither. But in November 194...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/6/battle-of-slater-s-knoll-wp/rqy6-battle-of-slaters-knoll-the-forgotten-campaign.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Slater's Knoll: A Private's Name on the Map https://qualla.com/battle-of-slater-s-knoll/ The Australian 7th Brigade, under Brigadier John Field, pushed south with three battalions - the 25th under Lieutenant Colonel John McKinna, plus the 9th and the 61st. Through February and early March, they conducted landings, marched through mud, and fought small actions along t...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/6/battle-of-slater-s-knoll-wp/rqy6-battle-of-slaters-knoll-a-privates-name-on-the-map.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Slater's Knoll: The Probes https://qualla.com/battle-of-slater-s-knoll/ The attack began in pieces. On the night of 27/28 March, a hundred Japanese soldiers fixed bayonets and assaulted the gap between the 25th Battalion's main position and its rear echelon - but the Australians had been alerted when the communication line was cut, and the weapons pi...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/6/battle-of-slater-s-knoll-wp/rqy6-battle-of-slaters-knoll-the-probes.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Slater's Knoll: A Hundred and Twenty-Nine Men https://qualla.com/battle-of-slater-s-knoll/ The Japanese divisional commander pulled his regiments back across the Puriata on 2 April and scheduled a fresh attack for 5 April. Three days of quiet let the Australians fortify. They laid barbed wire, cleared fields of fire, set booby traps, registered their Vickers medium mac...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/6/battle-of-slater-s-knoll-wp/rqy6-battle-of-slaters-knoll-a-hundred-and-twenty-nine-men.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Slater's Knoll: The Morning After https://qualla.com/battle-of-slater-s-knoll/ When the sun rose, Australian soldiers counted 292 Japanese dead in the wire around B Company's perimeter. Over the whole course of the battle, the Australians counted 620 Japanese killed and estimated another 1,000 wounded. The commander of the 23rd Infantry Regiment, Lieutenant...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/6/battle-of-slater-s-knoll-wp/rqy6-battle-of-slaters-knoll-the-morning-after.mp3 0:06 6 full Battle of Slater's Knoll: What the Jungle Keeps https://qualla.com/battle-of-slater-s-knoll/ Slater's Knoll today is a small rise in the forests of southern Bougainville, near where the Buin Road crossed the Puriata River. The Japanese troops who attacked it are buried in unmarked graves that the jungle has long since reclaimed. The Australian 25th Infantry Battalion has...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/6/battle-of-slater-s-knoll-wp/rqy6-battle-of-slaters-knoll-what-the-jungle-keeps.mp3 0:06 7 full